Can Google Stop the Brain Drain?

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Can Google Stop the Brain Drain?

It takes more than an army of trained chefs and free lunch to keep Googlers happy. As a new wave of web darlings (such as Facebook) beef up recruiting efforts, high-level Googlers are blowing the joint. Sheryl Sandberg, Ethan Beard (right) and Justin Rosenstein are just a few big name defectors – and recruiters say there is little Google can do to stop the exodus.

"Googlers may as well have targets on their foreheads," says Eric Jaquith, an Atlanta-based recruiter who has done some contract work for Google. "The nature of recruiting is that you go after the big companies that have been successful. So any company that wants Google-like success is going to try to hire away from Google."

And although Google has earned the reputation for paying fairly stingy salaries, Jaquith argues that the exodus was inevitable, regardless of pay scale. He says most Googlers' options vest under four- or five-year plans, after which point it makes sense for employees to seek new challenges.

"Most people who went to Google were bright, curious and wanted to solve interesting problems. Nobody went to Google for a salary," Jaquith says.

Of course, the stock options probably didn't hurt. And the proceeds from those options have probably given Googlepreneurs the financial wiggle room to launch their own startups. A cursory search for "ex-Googler" turns up volumes of info about former employees who are quietly working on their own businesses. To name just a few:

Gokul Rajaram, the "Godfather of AdSense," is working on a stealth startup. Can't talk about it now, but he says he can in the third quarter.